


Magic Reforged

by Haiun_Hikaru



Category: Original - Fandom
Genre: F/F
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-04-25
Updated: 2018-04-27
Packaged: 2019-04-27 21:33:14
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 4
Words: 11,839
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14434524
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Haiun_Hikaru/pseuds/Haiun_Hikaru
Summary: Amalea had been bonded for nearly all her life with her dragon Bellamy, but when war comes to Preacallai, the young woman isn't sure if she's ready.A tale of growth, getting up after being beaten down and bonds forged in the flames of war. Will Amalea and Bellamy be able to make it through the war with their friends, of will they lose them one by one until the only one left to die is them?Overshadowing everything is a secret that could bring countries to their knees, a secret that only the Mellion king knows, the secret that caused the war.





	1. The Beginning Of The End

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The war has begun, but Amalea has something she needs to do before she can leave with her division.

They'd trained for this day for years, endless drills practiced over and over again until they could do them in their sleep. But when the announcement came that Mellion had declared war on Preacallai and that their grounded army was marching on the Plains this very second,Amalea wasn't ashamed to say she'd frozen. Relations between the two countries had been strained for a nearly all her life, but she'd never actually expected it to end in a war.

It hadn't seemed real to her, her body moving automatically even as her brain tried to comprehend that she wouldn't be able to have dinner tonight with her family like she'd promised. The general had told them that they were leaving in two hours and that any goodbye's would have to be rushed since they had to do an attendance check an hour before departure. As the Rider, she was in charge of packing both her and Bellamy's equipment and she hadn't been able to begrudge the dragon the extra time to say goodbye to his mother. He'd hesitated when the general had dismissed them, eyes torn as he'd looked at her, but she'd sent him on his way with a stiff smile and a nod before making her way to her dorm room.

Her roommate Bianca looked to be even more in shock than she was, tears streaming down her face as she packed her bag with shaking hands. Amalea walked over from the doorway over to the young woman and laid her hands on the fragile-looking shoulders. The teen jumped and spun around, hands coming up to wipe her eyes. Amalea did her best to look reassuring when she smiled, and from the slight relaxing of the teens shoulders it seemed she was successful. "You two will be fine. You're both too young and inexperienced to be sent to the front lines, you'll probably be assigned with border patrol once we arrive at the main camp."

Amalea knew that Bianca and Gerald weren't very suited for battle, the two were by far the gentlest pair she'd ever had the fortune of meeting, and being sent of to fight in the war had to be the absolute worst case scenario for them. "He probably already knows, but would you like me to tell the colonel that you two are best suited for guarding the medical camp once it's set up?" From all that Amalea had been taught about war over the years in her classes, being assigned to guard the medical camp was the safest option for a bonded pair since they were the most heavily warded.

Evidently Bianca had learned the same thing already if the tearful hug was any indication and Amalea forced her hands to still before she hugged the teen back. "Thank you so much for everything." Bianca's sweet voice was muffled from the way her face was hidden against Amalea's chest, but the sheer amount of gratitude was hard to miss. "It's going to be alright Bianca. There's nearly around sixty-thousand Villám in Shomnai City's standing army alone, once all the others join us, Mellion won't stand a chance." By the gods did Amalea hope she was speaking the truth, but the sinking feeling in her stomach told her that Mellion wouldn't declare war if they didn't have some sort of plan to deal with the incredible amount of dragons Preacallai in it's standing army, with even more ready and waiting to be called to arms if needed.

She pulled back, refusing to feel guilty as Bianca tried to cling to her. They didn't have much time left to finish packing their equipment if they still wanted to have time left over to say goodbye to their families.She explained as much to Bianca, and the young woman nodded and went back to packing her bags, hands moving briskly and a hopeful edge to her movements. Amalea did the same thing, body moving automatically through the motions she'd repeated hundreds of times over the seven years she'd been in the army as her mind raced. She stalled when she came to the wooden box tucked away in her closet and as she trailed trembling fingers over the delicate wooden box, tears threatened to fall from her eyes. She knew exactly what was inside, having opened it countless times since she'd bought it and the thought of not being able to give it to her sister on the day of her graduation tore at her heart.

But early was better than never, and there was no way in the seven hells Amalea was missing the chance to see her family one more time before she went off to war. She put the box to the side and finished packing her equipment in record time, slinging the pack onto her back and sliding Bellamy's kit out from under her bed. Grabbing the box off her bed,she looked around her room of the past four years one last time before walking out of the door, pulling the floating kit behind her as she joined the mass of bodies heading for the central square of the pairs district. It didn't take long to find her assigned spot and knowing that time was ticking, she again joined the mass of human pairs running in the direction of the closest lay line connection.

Desperate for more time, Amalea skipped the stairs entirely with a single jump,using her momentum to fling herself headfirst into the faintly glowing magical stream. Never once had she gone as fast as she did now, and she lost several precious seconds getting to her feet as she was shot out of the ley line. Nobody stood in her way as she sprinted at full speed in the direction of her family's house, residents and visitors alike recognizing her uniform and knowing very well why she was in a hurry. The entire city had heard the general's announcement of Mellion's actions, and they all knew that both paired and unpaired Villám were what made up the first line of defense as the rest of the army assembled.

She broke both the door and the wall on the way in, having shoved it open with so much force the entire thing broke off it's hinges and lodged in the wall, but not two seconds later her mothers arms surrounded her and Amalea found that she couldn't bring herself to care about the door. Amalea took several shuddering breaths, her mouth trying to form all the words stuck behind the block in her throat and in the end the only thing that came were tears. "I'm scared Mama. I'm scared I won't make it back." She didn't want to think like that, she wanted to be confident that both she and Bellamy would make it home alive, but she'd read about war and she knew there was no guarantee that being part of a pair would let her survive through the war.

Hells, she'd seen that pairs weren't inseparable with her own eyes every time they did squad flight drill, as Dokrov's saddle was always pointedly empty. She didn't know how old the instructor was or when he'd lost his other half, but seeing him made Amalea secretly hope that when death came for her or Bellamy, it would also come for the other. She really didn't know how he could stand to see so many whole pairs every single day knowing he'd only see his own again once he died, she could sometimes not even look at his empty saddle and she didn't even have to live as one half of a whole. "Leah darling, I can't say that you two will come out of this war unscathed. I don't know what Mellion has planned, but Preacallai is strong Amalea. You are strong, you and Bellamy. Stick together, don't take stupid risks unless absolutely necessary and most of all, never forget what's waiting for you at home, so you know what you're fighting for."

Amalea nodded and pulled out of the hug, looking at her mother with tearful eyes."I love you Mama." She hadn't called her mother mama in years,but right now she needed to comfort the childish term gave her. She heard the clatter of her sisters shoes on the stones of their porch and turned around just in time to catch to teen as she came flying at her. "I don't want you to go, please don't go Leah!" Amalea felt tears threaten again, and she slid her hand under her sisters legs,pulling them up over her waist to hug her even closer. "I promise you Elliana, I'm coming back. No matter what I have to do, how many Mellion soldiers I have to take down, I'm going to survive this war one way or another. Do you understand?" Elliana didn't respond, too busy crying into her shirt, but Amalea wanted an answer.

"Elliana, do you understand? I'm going to come home, we are going to come home. Bellamy and I will fly right back here once the war is over and we're gonna land right there in the front garden. So you better be waiting for us and you better be able to shoot five arrows at the center of a target with this." She'd put the wooden box in one of her many belt pouches, and after shifting her sister onto one arm, pulled it out. Elliana shifted her head just enough that she could see while still tucked under Amalea's chin, but not a second later realization set in and she gasped. "I was originally going to give this to you for your graduation, but well." She set Elliana on her feet, handing the box over to the teen who cradled it reverently to her chest.

Luka choose that moment to rush into the house and sweep Amalea off her feet, big arms forming a cage of comfort around her as her father crushed her to his chest. He didn't say anything, just held her close and rested his head on hers. Amalea noticed that he was trembling and remembered with a start that he'd lost his uncle to a rogue Mellion battle-mage.There was a good chance that she'd end up facing one herself at some point, with no guarantee that she'd survive the encounter aside from Bellamy. "Papa, I have Bellamy and I have my squad. I might not know who they will be, but it will be at the very least ten dragons,maybe even ten pairs. No battle-mage will be able to survive attacking us, much less win." The man sighed, pressing a kiss to the top of her head before lowering her to her feet.

"I know in my head that it's not the same, but my heart won't stop telling me that I'm going to open the door in a few months and get the worst news of my life." Amalea knew that no words would help sooth that fear, so she just held out her hand to her mother and Elliana,inviting them into the hug. The family stood huddled together in their entrance hall, taking comfort in each others closeness when suddenly the broken door fell out of the wall and hit the floor with a loud thud. They all jumped, Amalea nearly pulling out her all-purpose dagger as she spun around. A giggle built up in her chest as her eyes landed on the door, and it slipped out along with a couple of tears as some of her stress leaked out of her. "I'm sorry about the door Mama." Eyeing the hole in the wall made by the doorknob, she added another apology. "The wall as well, I really didn't mean to break our entrance hall."

Her mother just let out a laugh of her own, one hand reaching out to hold hers in a tight grip. "I wasn't very fond of that door in the first place. As for the wall..." Now that they were all really paying attention to the wall, they noticed that it wasn't just the doorknob that had done damage, the door itself had left a dent as well. "I'll have someone come by to fix it." An alarm rang through the city, chasing away any levity they'd managed to create. It was the signal to anyone saying goodbye that their time was up and they needed to report to their positions for the attendance check. Amalea's breath caught in her throat and the only thing keeping her from freaking out entirely was her mother's grip on her hand.

"Do your best to stay strong, but know that it's okay to lean on others when you can't be. You two will make it home as long as you work together the way you always have until now." After giving all of them one last hugs and whispers of goodbye, Amalea reluctantly turned and walked out of the house. She refused to look back, knowing that would only make things more difficult for all of them. It didn't take long for her to get to the ley line and before she knew it, she was jogging back into the central square. Bellamy was already waiting for her at their designated spot, his faintly trembling wings the only thing betraying his nervousness. She still had a promise to fulfill first though, so she took a quick detour over to where the colonel and the general were waiting. Thankfully he already knew Bianca was unsuited for battle and had already assigned her and Gerald as permanent guards of the medical camp once it got set up.

One Villám came in three minutes after the designated time, but the brass didn't call her on it. Dan had only recently laid her first egg and the mother-to-be had been anxiously waiting for it to hatch for the past two weeks. She had probably been hoping that she'd get to see her little one at least once before having to leave, but the defeated slump of her shoulder made it clear that she hadn't been that lucky. Magic washed over the square not soon after Dan found her spot next to her rider and Amalea couldn't hold in the quiet sigh of relief when there wasn't a single red flare to indicate that someone was missing.

"Most of you are no doubt wondering when exactly Mellion declared war and why we are being deployed in such a rush. I will tell you most of what I know, and you'll find the more later when we arrive at the main camp set up by the Jektemic standing army." The general swept his gaze over the crowd of dragons and humans spread out before him, eyes impassive and voice steady when he spoke. "Mellion did not send a declaration of war. Instead, they marched their army over the Plains under heavy-duty concealment spells and set up at the border, after which they sent out a swarm of phoenix's to raid the land surrounding the entrance of the Plains."

"Right now Mellion has the advantage. They've not only destroyed a large part of our crops, they also killed most of the border patrol of that area. They've also taken over the skies in a large area around the mouth of the Plains with their phoenix's, who are entirely immune to lightningand, as with most phoenix's, don't stay dead." Out of all the news to get, this had to be some of the worst. Phoenix's were supposed to be incredibly rare and impossible to tame, so hearing that Mellion had an army of them was terrifying. Whispers broke out all over the square, mostly words of panic and hopelessness as the true gravity of the situation sunk. They'd well and truly lost the advantage of controlling the skies, although there was a good chance they still had higher numbers.

Her attention was drawn away from comforting Bellamy as the colonel stepped forward. "Thing's seem bleak, but you have all been training for this for years. You've done hundreds of drills, dozens of spars and most importantly of all, you've grown up together with the best partner anyone could ever ask for. Trust in your training, trust inyour fellow soldiers and trust in your partner." The colonel knew them well, having been one in charge of arranging the training schedule's for most of them and he knew exactly what to say to give them hope. A roar echoed through the square, Amalea turning around to see Dan with her head thrown back, maw wide open as she voiced her defiant determination. Other Villám joined in as well along with their partners, until the entire pairs division was united in a single unified battle-cry.

Before they had the time to quiet down again, the colonel vaulted atop his own partner and took to the sky and as one they did the same. They'd only taken off as a whole division once before as a drill and that had been two years ago. Even so they still managed to get into the sky without anyone clipping anyone else, the mass of dragons and humans set off for the western border with a mix of determination and fear in their hearts. Mellion might have made the first move, but Preacallai was far from beaten.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This story is cross-posted to Wattpad under the same name. It's being written as my NaNoWriMo project this year, based on the story I wrote for November last year.


	2. First Meetings

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Amalea meets a few interesting people and an embarrassing secret is revealed.

Amalea and Bellamy had spent more time in the air in the following three months than they had in the past two years combined. The skies around the entrance to the Plains had quickly become infested with phoenix's who constantly rained down lighting at anything that moved, even if it was just a blade of grass swaying in the wind. This kept the grounded army from getting close enough to attack the Mellion base. The Shomnai pairs division had taken over for one of Reolchi's mixed divisions in trying to drive back the phoenix's. They'd made some progress in the beginning, but subsequently lost it when they let their guard down and ended up nearly overwhelmed by the other Mellion phoenix squads swarming them.

They couldn't stop attacking for even a moment, since newly resurrected phoenix's would come back to any territory Preacallai might have reclaimed. This all meant that the battles were literally never-ending and had to be fought in shifts so that dragons would have a chance to rest their wings and humans a chance to rest their arms. The constant relay between Preacallai squads did mean that some pairs ended up in the thick of things much sooner than anyone ever expected, including some of the pairs themselves. Like Amalea and Bellamy for example, who quickly became popular in their team thanks to Bellamy's large size and Amalea's archery skills. Thanks to large amount of time spent on the front lines, the two were promoted to Sergeant and changed over to a more experienced team.

-

The moment Bellamy touched down Amalea was out of the saddle and running right at one of the support staff carrying a self-refilling water-bottle. She snatched the bottle out of his hands and drained it dry, pulling it from her lips once it was empty and gasped for breath as she waited for the spell to kick in. Once the metal canister felt heavy in her hands, she chugged the entire thing again as Bellamy approached. The young man looked on in shock as Amalea screwed open her quiver and dumped the entire bottle into the metal cylinder,waited for a few seconds, then did it again. She let the bottle fill up one more time, drained it and then finally gave it back to the poor helper.

"Thank you for the water." The servant just nodded silently as he took back the bottle, obviously quite shocked to see a young woman chug three liters of water and walk off like it's nothing. Granted, normally she wouldn't be able to do that, but she'd just shot something like a hundred ice arrows while only having a four liter quiver. She'd ended up using the moisture in the air around her once her quiver ran dry,so there was a good chance she'd draw quite a bit of moisture from her skin in the process. This had left Amalea on the edge of dehydration, thus the three liters of water.

"You shouldn't drink that much water so quickly or you'll end up vomiting." Amalea looked around for the voice speaking to her before realizing that it came from Bellamy's other side. The Villám looked down to his left, quickly spotting the man who was judging his partner and curling his lip when the green armband tied over the white coat caught his eye. "You wouldn't be so quick to reproach her if you knew why she was drinking so much water, medic-in-training." Amalea gently drove her elbow into the center of Bellamy's chest, ignoring the yowl of pain as she gave the medic awry smile. "Don't mind him, he's just taken one-too-many lightning bolts to the face today." He shot her a cheerful smile of in return, seemingly used to having giant dragon's threaten him.

"So, how did you just drink three liters of water in the space of two minutes and not end up vomiting, if you don't mind me asking?" Very nosy question for a medic-in-training to ask, but Amalea was still feeling hyper from her recent battle and didn't mind indulging the curious man. "I ran out of water in my quiver and had to pull moisture from the air to make my arrows."Bellamy let out an annoyed grumble as he lowered his head to hang next to hers. She leaned against him and wrapped her arm around his snout, scratching at the top with her other hand. "I told you that you can just sit there while I take out those damn birds if you run out of water. This is the third time you've done this and yet you still persist on pushing yourself over your limits for no good reason." Amalea's arm tightened, her voice tense as she replied."It's not for no good reason Bellamy, there's a war going on, if you hadn't noticed yet."

Bellamy growled, hitting her over the head with his tail. "I know very well that in war you have to give it all you have, but creating nearly one hundred ice arrows within two hours, forty of those without a direct water source is just irresponsible. I'm a good flier Leah, but I don't know if I'd be able to catch you in time if you pass out in the saddle and fall." Amalea was ready to argue that she was secured to the saddle with two leather-wrapped chains while shooting, but the still-nameless medic interrupted before she could.

"Did he just say one hundred arrows in two hours? While engaged in active combat and also having to focus on staying in your saddle? Are you insane?!" The pair turned to look at him in annoyance, not happy to have a stranger interfere with their discussion. "Yes, one hundred arrows in two hours. I've been meaning to request a bigger quiver but I haven't had the time yet." Bellamy muttered darkly that their breaks had been cut in half after week one and that they barely had time to sleep and eat, but the medic seemed to be stuck on the idea that she made a hundred arrows in two hours. Amalea didn't really know what was so impressive about that, until she realized the young man probably didn't know that she used a special mix, that made the process of creating twice as easy. She explained as much and he did regain some of his color after that.

"It's still very irresponsible to create that many arrows in such a short period,you should take more time to aim if you can't hit your target the first time. Using five or six arrows just for one phoenix isn't going to do you any favors." Amalea look incredulously at the medic, not sure whether she should be more offended that he thought she was that bad of a shot or that she was stupid enough to make a hundred arrows when she only got one phoenix every five. "You should be so quick to judge little medic. This young lady here just finished taking down around ninety of those cursed birds." "Ninety-six." Came Amalea's automatic response and the older rider laughed as he walked by with his Villám partner. He'd been on her squad for her past three turns and she was just about ready to marry him despite not even knowing his name. He'd been the perfect back-up, recognizing that she was better at shooting from the saddle in chaotic situation and protecting her and Bellamy's back accordingly.

A blue tail hit her over the head again, Bellamy obviously knowing where her mind had gone as she stared at the man's back as he walked away. "Ninety-five. Ninety-five phoenix's with one-hundred arrows. That means you either missed five or didn't hit fatal shots with them."Amalea and Bellamy had actually just found out that they could take down two phoenix's at the same time if they positioned themselves correctly, so she'd actually missed about thirty of her shots, but she figured the medic wasn't really ready to hear that right now. "This run went better than usual, I'm an archery specialist." The look he gave her told her that he wasn't impressed with the weak excuse, but she'd done nothing wrong by taking down so many phoenix's, so he really couldn't complain about anything.

"At the very least you should request a new quiver as this one is obviously too small. And go eat something, your hands are shaking." He strode off, apparently done scolding her and Amalea couldn't help but make a skeptical look at his back. "Do you think he knows that eating is literally required for anyone that did a shift in the skies? Because it would be weird if he didn't, since it's the medics that preform the diagnostic spells before take-off." Bellamy began laughing next to her, having heard something she couldn't. "Trust me, he knows." Amalea grinned at her partner, nudging him with her elbow. "You can't just say that and not tell me what you heard, you know I get way too curious for my own good."

The Villám nudged her back, laughter in his voice as he told her. "He ducked behind one of the tents and began banging his head against one of the support poles while berating himself for telling you to eat in such a snobby way. It seems he does respect you a lot and feels bad for treating you like an idiot." Bellamy perked up, cocking his head like he just heard something interesting. "Apparently the little baby medic likes you, if that comment about your eyes means what I think it does." Amalea's eyebrows shot up, an amused and charmed expression softening her features. "Really? Huh." That certainly drew Bellamy's attention, the dragon rolling his eyes at her once he caught sight of her expression. "Leah, we're currently at war and busier than ever. We and more importantly you, don't have the time to charm some baby medic into your bed."

"Who said I was going to charm him into my bed? I can express interest in men without wanting to sleep with them. Besides, I haven't said anything about your interest in that one paired Villám from two runs ago, you two chatted for quite some time while I was eating." Bellamy blushed, wings going from their usual dark blue to a more purple shade and he snapped his feet at her as they walked to the special food tent set up for fighters returning from their run in the sky. The main food tents were on the other side of the camp to avoid too much traffic getting in the way of the on-duty dragons and pairs. Most of the unpaired humans hung out in that part of the camp, waiting for the skies to be clear enough to actually march on the Mellion camp.

Bellamy suddenly stuck his nose into the air, sniffed once, then threw himself forward without warning, leaving Amalea in the dust for a total of three seconds before the smell reached her as well. The crowd didn't seem to understand her rush, so she jumped over them, landing briefly on Bellamy's head before kicking off using all the strength she had in her legs, jumping straight over two tents and landing in front of the food tent. She rolled once and popped up onto her feet, ignoring the stares of the dragons and humans gathered in the little clearing surrounded by tents as she strode up to the woman standing over the large cauldron filled with the stew of the gods. "One large serving please Damnar, I'm absolutely starving." The pot didn't look big enough to serve all the dragons plus any paired humans, but it functioned the same way that the water-bottles did. Once it emptied the cauldron filled itself up again with whatever filled it before, although it did have to be at least mostly liquid.

Unlike the water-bottles though, the cauldron couldn't refill itself in ten seconds, so if it was empty, the next in line would have to wait ten to twenty minutes until the pot was full again. Amalea and Bellamy were usually quite good at waiting their turn, but only when it wasn't Damnar's turn to cook. The woman made the best stew in existence as far as they were concerned and every time it was a fight to see who would get to eat first. They always arrived later than the rest of their group since Amalea had to drink so much, so the pot was always nearly empty when they got here and today they'd been delayed more than usual thanks to the baby medic. In fact, there was only enough stew left for the large serving Amalea had requested, which she was enjoying at one of the large tables when Bellamy finally rounded the corner.

It appeared that he'd run into the wrong dragon, as his saddle didn't sit right on his back anymore, plus he also had mud on one of his horns. He sent Amalea a venomous glare as he took his spot in front of Damnar to wait for the stew to fill the cauldron again, the woman gracing him with a sunny grin on return. "You must be really hungry if you can manage a large portion instead of the normal one, wonder girl. Although it's not really surprising, considering the amount of ice arrows you crafted." Amalea looked over and saw that it was the man who'd guarded her and Bellamy's back on their latest three runs."You! I've been meaning to thank you, you've been the absolute best teammate we could have asked for." Bellamy chose that moment to sit down with them and ruin her first impression by telling the man something Amalea would have preferred to keep to herself.

"She's just about ready to marry you for that, by the way. I don't think I've ever heard her gush this much about a man since she fell in love with her bow instructor's skills." Out of all the times to blab about her thing for competent men, it just had to be in front of the guy that she'd nearly gotten used to really trusting with their backs."Bellamy, that's enough." Amalea didn't reprimand Bellamy often because despite her being older, he was actually more mature most of the time, but not only was this not teasing, it was also very rude to the man and humiliating for her. To her surprise, the man didn't look uncomfortable with Bellamy's words or her sharp remark. When Amalea gathered the courage to look him in the eyes, the only thing she could see was a knowing and sympathetic look.

"Don't worry about it, I know very well that dragons sometimes forget that humans prefer to keep some thing close to their chest for reasons they might not entirely get. My darling Emily here has blabbed about things I told her in confidence quite a few times, it's not the first time I've been told something private." Bellamy curled in on himself in shame as he realized he'd said just a bit too much and Amalea knew that he felt even worse because he hadn't said that entirely out of ignorance. He'd been annoyed that she'd beat him to the food, plus she also used him as a springboard as well, so he'd tried to get back at her by saying the things he had. "You're lucky these tables have privacy runes carved into the bottom or I might have actually became angry at you for telling everyone here personal information about me."

Bellamy curled even further in on himself, tucking his head low as her words hit home. It was rare for Amalea to get properly angry at her partner, so the warning carried plenty of weight. Annoyance didn't excuse shitty behavior, from neither of them. "Don't be too hard on him, battles like this can mess with anybodies head." It was Emily who spoke this time, her eyes fixed on Bellamy's low-hanging head. Amalea didn't appreciate the insinuation that she was taking her embarrassment and anger out on Bellamy, but considering the Blackstreak didn't know about all the facts and how their relationship worked, the woman could understand that it looked like she was overreacting.

"It's alright." A large blue tail wrapped around Amalea, the end draping over her shoulders so that the bladed tip rested millimeters from her neck. "We threaten and play with each others vital weak spots as away of reaffirming our trust in each other. I could kill her in an instant right now, the reason she's so relaxed is because she knows I wouldn't do it under any circumstances." To prove Bellamy's point, Amalea leaned forward into the blade as she lifted her bowl and the dangerous tip moved with her body, never coming any closer despite Bellamy not even looking at her once. Emily and the man, who's name she really should get around to asking, watched like hawks as Bellamy's tail moved like it was a separate entity from his body,moving as Amalea moved while the Villám himself looked them dead in the eyes with nothing but confidence in his eyes.

Eventually the man broke the strange tension at the table, laughing and shaking his head "So they weren't exaggerating when they said that pairs from Shomnai are on a whole other level when it comes to their bond." He grinned at her and held out his hand, finally introducing himself and his partner properly. "I'm Mason and this is Emily. We've been bonded for nearly twenty years now." Amalea took his hand and shook it, grinning as well now that they weren't balancing on the edge of a blade anymore. "My name is Amalea." Bellamy butted into the intentional pause she left in her sentence, introducing himself with a huff. "Bellamy. We've been bonded for eighteen years." Mason whistled, leaning back against Emily as he looked between Amalea and Bellamy. "How old were you when you bonded then? You still look pretty young, I wouldn't put you over twenty-two." He nodded at Amalea as he spoke and to be honest she couldn't blame him for his assumptions. She did look a bit young for her age, his guess was actually closer to her actual age than most.

"We bonded when Bellamy was two and I was six." She continued at his doubtful look. "Most Shomnai pairs bond that young. The ones that bond when they're older are non-Kaptagan, since they only come into contact with young Villám at a later age." Emily huffed in Mason's ear when the man just stared at Amalea and Bellamy with wonder in his eyes, nipping at his hair like a horse when that failed to knock him out of it. "It's literally common knowledge you over-dramatic moron, why are you acting so surprised." Mason pushed at Emily's snout, whining that it wasn't the same. "It's one thing to hear they bond young, it's another to see what that actually means. You can't tell me you weren't also shocked to see his tail move like that, it was like two magnets repelling each other. We've been bonded for longer than them and we wouldn't be able to do that if we tried."

Emily did the dragon version of a shrug, wings shifting upwards on her back as she replied. "It's not a competition Mason. We have our bond, they have theirs. Everyone has things they can do that others can't, that's what makes people unique and life interesting." Amalea grinned warmly at Emily, setting down her bowl after draining the last of the stew. "It was lovely finally talking to you two and I hope we continue to be on the same team in the future. I'd stick around and talk longer, but I need to get myself a new quiver. This one simply isn't cutting it for me anymore." Mason stood up and took her hand, giving her a firm handshake as he wished her luck. Emily also nodded at her and she gave Bellamy a quick hug before slipping into the ever-moving masses of the main camp.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This story is cross-posted to Wattpad under the same name. It's being written as my NaNoWriMo project this year, based on the story I wrote for November last year.


	3. Is That Romance I Sense?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sparks fly between Amalea and the female rider she met at the armory, but will they lead to something more or just burn them?

There were parts of the camp set up so Villám could also use them, but the human armory wasn't one of them. The midday sun bore down on her as she navigated through the crowd, those that could spot her armor in time moving out of her way with nods of their head. Amalea still wasn't used to the respect and awe the human soldiers had for paired riders, like they were somehow more special than them because they were bonded with a dragon. As weird as it was, it was also really useful for getting from one place to another when she was in a hurry like she was now. Amalea had another run scheduled later today once the sun began setting, so she wanted to get this done now and get some sleep before they had to take to the skies again. She hated fighting at sunset, since the sun blinded her more easily. She didn't want to think about the amount of arrows she'd missed because she happened to look west while aiming.

Ten minutes later she finally reached the three archery tents after getting lost twice and once even ending up in the dragon armor area, which was nearly on the other side of the camp. She'd been mentally mulling over whether she should ask one of the pairs from Reolchi how they did some of the moves she'd seen them use when she finally found the tent she'd been looking for. And while there wasn't a convenient human half of a Reolchi pair already inside the tent, there was a woman in a uniform she didn't recognize. She was looking at an ice arrow quiver, although from the leather quiver she held in her hand,the woman was considering switching her arrow type instead of simply getting a different size quiver like Amalea was.

She looked up when Amalea stopped next to her, giving her a wry grin when Amalea grabbed one of the metal tubes laying in the crate marked with a four. "If you want to know anything about ice arrows, I probably know even more than him." The young rider tilted her head in the direction of the supervisor, who nodded back after looking up from his organizing. "Don't mind if I take you up on that offer, I only know the basics." The woman turned to face her, holding up her own quiver as she explained. "I've been using normal arrows and along bow, but I've been running out of arrows now that the runs have gotten longer, so I either let targets go if I'm not sure if I can hit them or spend the last twenty minutes of my runs doing nothing except maybe cut down a bird that gets too close." Amalea nodded knowingly, holding out her hand in a request to examine the woman's quiver.

"Something you have to take into consideration with ice arrows as that they aren't instantly available like normal arrows. You have to first activate and maintain the runic sequence that makes the arrows for you and, if you're not used to it, there's definitely a chance that you're going to forget and reach back only to come up empty. Another is that you're going to have to wear special gloves, which are both to give you a good grip on the arrows but also to protect your hands from the occasional sharp edges the arrows have with standard model quivers like this." Amalea showed the woman her gloves and then held her quiver next to the one she'd grabbed, pointing out some of the modifications Amalea had made to the runic sequences and interior.

"One of the reasons I hadn't switched to a larger quiver was because I've heavily modified the one I already have, which took me a while to do. The runes themselves are pretty easy to change once you know what you're doing, but to change the interior you have to take the entire thing apart and have a blacksmith help you with the modifications." The woman nodded thoughtfully every now and then as Amalea explained both the benefits and drawbacks of changing over to an ice quiver. "Your bow will also need some changes, with your string being the most important. Most normal strings aren't made to deal with the cold of the arrows, so they will wear down quickly and can even snap in the middle of battle if you're unlucky." The woman just hummed thoughtfully at the warnings.

"As complicated as this all sounds, being able to have four times the amount of arrows with a quiver the same size as my old one would be more than worth it. Plus that trick you mentioned about drawing water from the air sounds good for last-case scenarios or lulling your enemy into a false sense of security by having them think you're out of arrows." The younger rider cautioned the woman that it took a lot of practice to make the arrows from scratch without the special mix and built-in arrow mold of the quiver, to which the woman nodded seriously. "I'll just have to practice a lot before my next run then." She said while grabbing a four liter quiver. She'd originally assumed she'd have to start with a smaller quiver, but Amalea had explained that it had more to do with age rather than your skill level, younger archers simply didn't have enough magical stamina to use the bigger ones.

The two women continued their discussion as they approached the worker for the official switch-over of quivers, the conversation shifting from different bow types to the pros and cons of different arrow types, with a quick introduction thrown into the middle once they realized they hadn't gotten around to that yet. Amalea herself preferred ice arrows over any other kind because she was able to create more even if her quiver ran dry, while the woman, called Mounia, had been using mostly iron arrows up until now since she hadn't needed the extra ammunition. "I know why most people stick to them since it does require some skill with water manipulation, but the benefits are well worth the extra effort for me."

Their conversation lasted them the entire walk to the food tent where Bellamy still sat talking with Mason and Emily. Amalea triumphantly held up her new quiver, the Villám grumbling that it was about time as he curled around her. Mason and Mounia exchanged nods, apparently quite familiar with each other from the way Emily let the woman scratch her under her chin. "Did Bryetag run off again?" Amalea assumed that Bryetag was Mounia's bonded dragon and she hummed in interest at Mason's question. "He's still not used to the looks. People aren't used to him here. The unpaired human troops are especially obvious in their discomfort." Amalea looked between Mounia's stiff, pained expression to Mason's understanding one,confusion coloring her voice as she spoke. "I don't get it, why would people stare at your bonded dragon? Is it because of his species or something?" She couldn't really think what else could make people look at Mounia's bonded oddly, most humans in Preacallai were taught to not look weird at dragons with obvious scars and deformations.

Mounia smiled grimly, a bitter twist to her expression. "Bryetag is a Harashi, a species which most people in this country haven't seen one outside of a painting before. They're frightened by his appearance and the whispers don't really make him comfortable." Amalea winched sympathetically, suddenly understanding why she hadn't seen any signs of Mounia's partner anywhere. She'd seen a few Harashi a few years ago when a Mellowlyn diplomatic convey had visited Shomnai for the Games Festival and she had to admit that they looked twice as terrifying as Villám. It didn't bother her too much, she was more than used to big sharp teeth and pupil-less eyes, but to the common soldier a Harashi had to be something right out of a nightmare.

There wasn't really anything Amalea could say in response to that, the fear of men wasn't something she had control over. Mounia sighed and dropped onto the bench next the Mason, pulling a dagger out from somewhere Amalea didn't have the angle to see and began examining it. "There's really nothing to be done about it, but I still wish there was one place in the camp where he feels comfortable. Right now he spends most of his time lurking around the edge of the camp, which isn't the safest place to be right now, since we're much closer to the front-line than before. If a group of those forsaken birds somehow slip though and ambush him..." Amalea didn't know how resistant to lightning Harashi were, but since they were a water type dragon, she was guessing they might actually be weak to it. He and Mounia were still on the roster, so they must have figured out some spell or enchantment to protect him, but spells broke and enchantments worn down. He'd most likely not last long against multiple enemies.

"That's unacceptable. Mellowlyn is doing us a huge favor by bringing us supplies with no guarantee of anything in return, it would be an insult and failure of the highest order if one of the bonded dragons they sent to help was injured or killed because they didn't feel comfortable in the camp." Amalea growled at the ground as her hands clenched with anger, mind furiously trying to come up with some sort of solution. "Where is your tent right now? Are you sharing an area with one of the pair division or do you and the rest of the Mellowlyn pairs have a little area to yourself?" Mounia slowly spun the blad ein her hand, looking at it from all angles as if searching for scratches Amalea could tell weren't there. "They were nice enough to give us a little area with a pond where our dragons could soak in their free time, but unfortunately that pond is located right by the normal human army tents. Most of the Harashi have been driven away by the constant staring."

Amalea grimaced, trying her best to think of some solution as she began pacing. "Can't you put up some kind of barrier? Just some large tarps strung on support poles should do the trick, who wants to stare at off-white cloth all day?" Mason was shaking his head before Amalea even got to finish, explaining that the ground around that particular area was mostly solid stone. The woman let out a snarl worthy of a dragon, hands moving as if to reach for a bow. She froze suddenly, drawing the attention of the entire group as she spun around and stalked right up to Mounia, leaning in close with fervent eyes. "You have no use for the pond right? Since none of the Harashi actually feel comfortable enough to use it. So why not ditch the pond and move your tents to one of the paired division areas?Preferably either Reolchi or Shomnai divisions, since we're the two dragon cities that get the most outside visitors. Trust me, nobody will stare after the first time."

The older woman stared at Amalea in shock for whatever reason, while Mason lost his serious look and began smiling. "It'll have to be Shomnai's division, Reolchi's area doesn't have any room to spare. Your area is also closer to the river, so there's more moisture in the air." He rubbed at his neck, a sheepish smile on his face as he continued."We're also not as relaxed about rank as you guys are, I don't have the rank to make a request like this." Amalea gave Mason a weird look, not really understanding how he wouldn't be able to ask for an audience with his colonel or brigadier general, but then shrugged and whistled for Bellamy to follow her as she held her hand out to Mounia. "Shall we?" She paused, eyes narrowing as she looked Mounia in the eye. "You do want to do this right? Or did you become attached to your little pond?" The woman closed her eyes and let out a bark of laughter before opening them again and grabbing Amalea's hand with her own.

"Let's go then, you stubborn woman." A wicked glint sparked in her eye and Amalea yelped as Mounia suddenly pulled her close and wrapped her free arm around her waist. "You should watch out though,stubbornness and loyalty are considered very attractive traits in Mellowlyn. You might just end up with a suitor or two if you show this kind of behavior in front of my team." The wicked curl of her lips told Amalea that Mounia herself might end up being one of those suitors and she turned bright red as the hand on her waist suddenly felt hot. "I-um, thanks. I'll keep it in mind." It had usually been Amalea that did the charming, not the other way around and the young woman found that she didn't really mind the change.

A dark blue talon gently inserted itself between Mounia's arm and Amalea's waist,and she looked up as Bellamy towered over her. "I think that's about enough of that. Didn't you have something you should be doing? We have to get ready for our shift soon Leah, and you still need to fill up you quiver." Mason chose that moment to stand up and walkover, grinning from ear to ear. "Since we're both assigned to this shift, I can just fill up you quiver for you so you have more time to take care of things." Amalea smiled appreciatively at Mason as she slid her quiver off her back and handed it over to him, grabbing Mounia by the arm and dragging her off. Bellamy gave Mason a dirty look, knocked his cup of ale off the table with his tail as he turned around, then followed his partner into the mixed crowd of dragons and humans.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This story is cross-posted to Wattpad under the same name. It's being written as my NaNoWriMo project this year, based on the story I wrote for November last year.


	4. Falling From Grace

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Neither of them saw or heard the man coming and between one second and the next Amalea was knocked out of her saddle. The twin chains connecting her belt to the front snapped, not capable of withstanding such force and Amalea felt some of her fingers dislocate as her instinctive grip on her saddle was broken.
> 
> -
> 
> The unthinkable happens. Amalea is forced from her saddle and Bellamy can't catch her. How will the woman survive falling thousands of meters when the only thing waiting to catch her is the hard, unforgiving ground?

If this had been any other kind of request Amalea would have just walked right up the colonel's tent and announce her presence before walking right in, but she knew that she would be stepping on a lot of toes just be suggesting that the Mellowlyn squad move into the Shomnai pairs area. She didn't want to risk anybody being able to undermine her request by saying she hadn't followed protocol, so instead of heading for the big command tent, she headed to the slightly smaller one next to it. Amalea made sure to let go of Mounia before stepping into the tent, knowing that only proper behavior would get her what she wanted. Bellamy had once said that it was nearly scary just how well she knew how to manipulate those above her so they did what she wanted to, to which Amalea had responded with a smile and a comment about how they made it too easy for her.

She bowed her head at the woman sitting at the large field desk working through the endless paperwork necessary even during war, seeing Mounia do the same out of the corner of her eye. Straightening, Amalea looked the unimpressed woman in the eyes. “Corporal Amalea requesting to speak to Colonel Vitya.” She didn't mention Mounia, refusing to speak even when the intimidating woman stared her down with one eyebrow raised reprovingly. “The Colonel is currently unoccupied. You have ten minutes.” Amalea bowed her head again before turning on her heel and marching out of the tent, Mounia following after her. Bellamy was waiting for them outside, his wings relaxing from their tensed position at her nod. “Ten minutes.” She didn't say anything else, knowing she couldn't afford to lose much time since she was taking the formal route with her request. “Knock 'em dead.” A fierce grin flashed over her face at the encouragement, but she quickly schooled her face before walking into the tent.

Colonel Vitya was an intimidating man. Not because he was tall or very muscled, Amalea was taller than him by more than ten centimeters. It was his eyes that made most people drop their eyes to the ground, a little voice in the back of their heads screaming at them to run, to hide and hope he didn't notice them. Amalea had never had that problem though, mostly because the eyes looking at her were her own. She could never be afraid of a family member and her grandfather was no exception. Mounia gasped quietly behind her and Amalea could feel the tension radiate off her. “Speak, Corporal.” The Colonel's voice cracked over her like a whip, causing her to straighten her spine just that little more. Right now they weren't family, they were subordinate and superior officer. Amalea looked straight ahead, one hand holding her other arms wrist behind her back as she began her report.

“I ran into Mellowlyn Rider Mounia at the armory at midday today and after talking about various subjects, she mentioned that her partner spends most of his time at the edge of the camp. When I asked why, she responded that as a Harashi, they get a lot of scared looks and whispers from the common soldiers. The designated Mellowlyn camp is located next to the ground soldier camp and most of the Mellowlyn dragons have been chased out of said camp because of aforementioned stares and whispers. They have not had the chance to use the pond their camp is located next to for it's intended use and are putting themselves in danger to get away from the negative attention.” And now for the actual request. Amalea shifted her feet just a millimeter further apart, adding a slight defiant edge to her voice as she continued.

“I am here to request the Mellowlyn camp be moved from it's current location to the remaining space we have here at the Shomnai paired division camp on behalf of Mellowlyn Rider Mounia and her team. They have not used the pond set aside for them because of their discomfort, which renders the camps special location useless. The Shomnai paired camp is located close to the river making the air very humid and I am confident that they will quickly be accepted here.” Even after finishing, Amalea didn't move a muscle, knowing that this had turned into a waiting game. The Colonel was testing her resolve and if she gave in and tried to use their family connection to pursuance him, he'd turn her down. He'd first have to bring the request to the generals and get it approved before the Mellowlyn camp could be moved, since they were still considered diplomats and favoritism was a big concern. He wanted to see if it was worth the trouble, but Amalea refused to give up.

She didn't make friends quickly as most people ended up feeling overwhelmed by her personality, but Mounia hadn't just kept up with her, she'd reversed the roles. The older woman didn't know it yet, but she'd gained a friend in Amalea with her actions and Amalea would do anything for her friends. The Colonel had been slowly walking in circles around her for the past few minutes and it seemed like he'd made his decision as he stopped in front of her. “I accept your request. Now get out of here, the general is ten second away from walking into this tent and I can't have him see that you were the one to bring me this request.” Amalea didn't hesitate, yanking Mounia off her feet as she threw herself at the secret back entrance of the tent. She rolled, ending up on one knee with the older woman cradled in her arms, their faces centimeters apart as they waited with baited breath if the general had noticed them.

They both relaxed when no raised voices came from the tent and that's when Amalea realized just how close Mounia's face was to hers when her breath fanned over her lips. Her silver eyes got caught in moss green ones, the two woman looking at each other with flushed cheeks for a couple of seconds before a loud bang somewhere in the camp knocked them out of it. Amalea jerked her head up, getting to her feet and gently setting Mounia down on hers before stepping back. Bellamy peeked his head around the edge of the tent, hissing at Amalea that they had to get a move on. She cursed under her breath after glancing up at the sky, only just then noticing that the sun was dangerously low in the sky. Amalea did not want to show up late to her shift, not after what happened the first and last time she did.

Mounia wished them luck as the pair ran for the take-off area at the western edge of the camp where Mason was waiting for them. He tossed Amalea her quiver and she slotted it into place in it's harness before vaulting onto Bellamy's back right before their squads sergeant walked into the clearing. He hadn't been able to join them in their midday shift after getting one of his horns torn off by a phoenix, so Amalea was happy to have him back. His helmet was covering the replacement she knew he had to have gotten and she cursed under her breath as she realized she'd forgotten to activate Bellamy's helmet in her rush. The same thought occurred to him in that moment and he quickly twisted his neck so Amalea could reach the metal bands around his horns. She fed a piece of her magic into the runes, which glowed briefly before the metal expanded to wrap around Bellamy's head.

He straightened just in time for Sergeant Fragnial to reach them for inspection and they both received unimpressed glares for their unpreparedness. “You noticed it yourself and fixed it in time, but this is a serious matter you two. Having your equipment in order can mean the difference between life and death and nobody wants you see you to go home in caskets.” Amalea swallowed, looking down with guilt curling in her stomach. She'd gotten dismissive of Mellion's forces since she'd been doing so well, but arrogance could get them killed just as quickly as anything else. She gave a small nod at Fragnial's rebuttal, hands moving to her back to check her equipment. The dragon turned his back to them and swept his gaze over the rest of the squad, voice hard as he spoke. “I doubt the corporal's were the only ones with their equipment out of order, so I want you all to check your weapons and your armor. We have ten minutes before we're supposed to be in the air, so get moving! Just remember, as a team we've gotten lucky. We get high kill counts and so far the worst injury has been my own. Others haven't been as fortunate as we have.”

Amalea's blood chilled in her veins at Fragnial's next words. “A squad of unpaired dragons went out yesterday and only one of them made it back alive. He lost one wing in the fight and the other one had to be amputated. He'll never fly again.” They got their early warning signal as that grim message sunk in, the six riders activated their own helmets while Fragnial returned to his position at the front of the group. “Luck runs out and when it does, it's your skills and armor that will save you. The least you can do is make sure those two things are at their best.” The seconds signal sounded, prompting the sergeant to do a communication rune check. He called on each member, both human and dragon, waiting until each of them gave their affirmative answer before moving on. Finally the third signal came and as one the dragons of Squad 17 spread their wings and launched themselves into the sky.

–

Something wasn't right.

Amalea cursed as the phoenix she and Bellamy were fighting dodged her arrow with millimeters to spare and nearly knocked her out of her saddle. It had done that twice before in the past five minutes and this time Bellamy knew the move was coming, bringing his tail up with lightning quickness to stab the bird through the chest. One of the problems was that Amalea had already shot down that particular bird not too long ago with an arrow to the neck. She knew it was the same one because the tail feather pattern was identical. Today wasn't even the first time she'd faced this phoenix, it had been just as persistent two weeks ago. This was the third time total they'd killed this particular bird in two weeks and the second time today. They were coming back quicker than ever before and Amalea was sure the reason behind their accelerated regeneration couldn't be anything good. “You saw that too, right?” Bellamy twisted and dove for the ground as razor-sharp claws just barely glancing off her shoulder-plates, pulling up before he dropped low enough to make them a target and snapping his jaws around the neck of a passing phoenix. He finally responded after spitting the feathers out of his maw.

“What, that the one I just killed with my tail was the same one you shot out of the sky not ten minutes ago? Yeah, I saw that. The one that nearly got your shoulder got dropped by Mason about twenty minutes ago, it aimed at you after missing him.” So it wasn't just the one phoenix, they were all resurrecting much quicker than should be possible. This wasn't something she could ignore. Amalea activated the direct communication rune with Sergeant Fragnial, giving her report after getting the go-ahead. “Sir, there's something not right with the phoenix's. Bellamy just took out a bird I shot down ten minutes prior and another phoenix that Mason killed twenty minutes ago just tried to take me out. They're resurrecting in minutes instead of days.” She paused, debating whether she should share her sudden thought. “Sir, I think the Mellion is planning some-”

Neither of them saw or heard the man coming and between one second and the next Amalea was knocked out of her saddle. The twin chains connecting her belt to the front snapped, not capable of withstanding such force and Amalea felt some of her fingers dislocate as her instinctive grip on her saddle was broken. Bellamy tried to dive after her with a roar, but was forced to pull up when three phoenix's rose up to meet him with extended claws. Amalea's training kicked in not two seconds after she left the saddle, flipping them so the man was under her. He swung at her face with a dagger and she caught his wrist with her left hand, using her other hand and her legs to keep him immobilized as the ground rushed up to meet them. The Mellion soldier tried to get loose as he realized that no phoenix's were diving down to catch them, a desperate hatred in his eyes as he snarled at her. Amalea ignored him and simply prepared for her jump. If she timed it right, she would be able to stop most of her momentum by jumping off the man as hard as she could, after which she would hopefully be able to break the rest of her fall by rolling.

It very nearly worked out perfectly as well, except the man had gotten his hand loose at the last moment and had swung his blade at her face, throwing her slightly off-balance and messing up her jump. She was still able to push off sideways and roll, her armor absorbing most of the damage as she hit the ground with her left-shoulder first, the rest of her body following in a near-perfect roll. She still dislocated her arm and once she stopped she could feel that there was something off with her lower back from where she'd rolled over a rock, but for a fall that would have killed an ordinary person Amalea was feeling pretty lucky. She would have actually been in much worse shape if she'd been alone in the air instead of having someone to use as a springboard.

She didn't bother trying to push herself into a sitting position, knowing that she needed to pop her shoulder back into place first. Ideally she'd have someone else help her by slowly pull on her arm to let it pop back into place naturally, but the only other human currently on the ground with her was a Mellion soldier with a very much broken body who wasn't going to be of much use to anyone. “Gods damn it, Mellion can go burn for all I care.” Amalea did her best to relax the muscles around her left shoulder as she reached over her body with her right arm and grabbed her bicep. Two seconds all thoughts of cursing Mellion left her mind as pain took it's place, the left side of her upper body screaming in pain as she slowly pulled her arm away from her body until the bones slotted back into place.

Instantly Amalea let her right arm flop to the side as she did her best to breathe through the aftershocks of pain, the occasional curse slipping out when the pain spiked in time with her breathing. She was in the middle of hoarsely snarling at the dead Mellion soldier that she hoped the lords of the dead lands used his spine to build their thrones, when the Sergeants voice suddenly came over the still-open connection. “Corporal, shut up and listen.” Amalea chocked back the rest of the curse and pushed herself into a sitting position, the sounds of battle making themselves known as her head cleared. “Sir?” Fragnial's voice was grim as he updated her on the situation in two sentences. “Mellion somehow doubled the number of phoenix's, who now also have riders. We need back-up, but can't afford to lose a single dragon right now, so you need to get within two kilometers of the main camp and use the contact runes to call for help.”

He closed the connection after giving Amalea her order and the woman pushed herself the rest of the way to her feet. She took two seconds to orientate herself before she started sprinting in the direction of the main camp. They'd been taught in the academy how to push their bodies beyond it's natural limits with magic and her armor also had enchantments that let her body react faster than should be possible. All this meant that she practically flew across the landscape, body and magic working together to move as fast as she was physically and magically capable of. The result was that within fifteen minutes she reached a river she recognized lay one-and-a-half kilometers away from the camp. 

She slowed down then, knowing that she couldn't run at her top speed while also using the communication runes. First she set of the emergency signal that would reach every other helmet connected to the main comm rune, after which she connected herself to her grandfather's personal comm rune. She waited only long enough for her grandfather to pick up his helmet before yelling at him. “Mellion has doubled it's numbers, the main forces are being overwhelmed! Send back-up now, forget protocol!”

Already she could see dragons rising from the camp, first just a few, then in large groups as their helmets were automatically activated from the control center. Soon the sky was filled with dragons, each of them doing their best to fly as fast as possible, while still not running into anybody else. Amalea took a second to thank whomever came up with universal flying-formations as the mass began moving at top speed west to aid the rest of the aerial forces. Her mission done, Amalea began flagging as the adrenaline wore off. She'd pushed her body to and over it's limits by sprinting as fast as she had for so long and at this point her armor was doing most of the work as her muscles lost strength at an alarming rate. Her magic was also running low, having been used not just to enhance her body but also to keep herself from passing out from the effort. After stumbling forward a few more steps, she fell to her knees.

Breath coming in ragged pants, Amalea didn't even have the energy to catch herself as she tipped forwards. A weak groan worked it's way out of her body as her weight forced her back to straighten, dragging her face over the ground until she lay flat. Her armor felt like it doubled in weight when her magic became too weak to keep powering it, her shoulder throbbed in time with her racing heartbeat and her body felt strangely numb. Faintly Amalea could hear a voice in her ear, first demanding her location and when she failed to respond, if she was okay. The only thing the woman could do at this point was breathe and even that wasn't very easy with the way her face was pressed into the dirt.

The last thought Amalea had before she lost consciousness was that she hoped Bellamy would be there when she woke up.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This story is cross-posted to Wattpad under the same name. It's being written as my NaNoWriMo project this year, based on the story I wrote for November last year

**Author's Note:**

> This story is cross-posted to Wattpad under the same name. It's being written as my NaNoWriMo project this year, based on the story I wrote for November last year.


End file.
